Letter to the Editor: Roundabout at highway intersection not a good solution

Editor,
The Washington Department of Transportation has just sent a mass mailing to the public living in and /or using state Route 503 at the intersection of Northeast Rock Creek Road. This was not a notification requesting comment but rather a statement of fait accompli that the project has been approved and will commence in the spring of 2024.
This mailing has produced a tidal wave of opposition on social media. The idea of placing a roundabout on a state highway where speed limits are presently 50 mph is beyond comprehension. Traffic will be forced to reduce to 25 mph to transit. To add insult to injury, the flier claims that the intersection is a major site of fatal collisions and near misses. That statement alone is at least highly suspect as I, for one, have never seen any incident in my six years using that road. Aside from the hyperbole and misinformation, there are claims that all of the business and commercial users agree with the decision and that roundabouts do not cause congestion. That is so flagrantly false, as can be easily seen at existing roundabouts.
There already are calls for town meetings to express opposition and explore the possibility of legal action to stop it. The Reflector should, as a minimum, make people unaware of the facts.

A fact to consider is that there is a church at that intersection that creates a backup every Sunday when parishioners use it to enter and depart for Mass. That’s a limited occurrence on one day a week and hardly a justification to impose an impossible situation on a majority of the users. A more simple solution would be a sensor-controlled programmable stop light that could operate on Sundays instead of inconveniencing the thousands of vehicles otherwise using the state highway.
Bill Michaels
Amboy